Activate to throw a sword at a target Hero that deals 50 (+4% per level) damage, and up to 1400 (+4% per level) bonus damage to their Shields. Passive: Basic Attacks against Heroes deal up to 200% bonus Physical Damage to Shields.

Create a shockwave that travels in a straight line, dealing 150 (+4% per level) damage and Slowing enemies by 35% for 1.5 seconds. Each enemy hit heals Varian for 35 (+4% per level), increased to 140 (+4% per level) against Heroes.

8

50

W

Parry

Parry all incoming Basic Attacks for 1.25 seconds, reducing their damage by 100%. Stores up to 2 charges.

10

30

E

Charge

Charge to the target enemy, dealing 50 (+4% per level) damage and Slowing them by 75% for 1 second.

12

45

R

Taunt

Silence a target Hero and force them to attack Varian for 1.25 seconds. Passive: Maximum Health and Health Regeneration increased by 30%.

Varian

2019-08-06 Patch Notes v 2.47.0

Bug Fixes

Varian's Banner of Ironforge now correctly displays the plus-Healing UI when augmented with Glory to the Alliance.

2019-04-17 Balance Update v 2.44.1

Hero Updates

Abilities

Parry (W)

Mana cost increased from 20 to 30

Talents

Level 1

Lion's Maw (Q)

Damage bonus per hit increased from 4 to 5

Enemy Heroes hit required for quest completion reduced from 30 to 25

High King's Quest (Passive)

Damage bonus upon quest completion reduced from 45 to 30

Developer Comment: In addition to bringing Varian's Mana costs in line,
we are slightly increasing the power of Lion's Maw and reducing the power of
High King's Quest. Currently High King's Quest is outperforming other options
on the tier, and is the go-to talent when going Twin Blades, which we are also
seeing perform a little too well at the lower to mid-levels of play.

Developer Comment: As we promised in the past, we took a look at the
overall Mana tension of all the Heroes in the game. We also have some
philosophies about Mana that we want to keep going forward. They are:

Mana should be a meaningful part of the game, particularly in the early
stages when wave clear is at a higher premium. We believe that as the game
progresses, Mana tension should become less important as Heroes gain more base
Mana and the game's focus shifts to team fighting.

Mana tension doesn't have to be the same for every Hero, but every Hero
should feel it to some degree, otherwise it serves no purpose.

We like that some talents heavily mitigate Mana tension.

When we took a look at Mana tension in the game, we saw that, overall,
things are in a fairly healthy spot, but could be fine-tuned and improved
upon. We like the tension that the heroes who are closer to the middle of the
spectrum have, with some examples being Malfurion, Tychus, and E.T.C. Our goal
with these changes is to bring the outliers closer to the center. We are open
to your feedback going forward if you think that the game needs to be stricter
or more lenient in this area, or if you believe there are any outliers that we
missed.

2018-07-10 Patch Notes v 2.35.0

Bug Fixes

Varian: Colossus Smash now moves Varian to a valid landing location, rather than placing him within a space that's already occupied by the target.

2018-06-27 Balance Update v 2.34.3

Bug Fixes

Shields: Talents that deal damage versus Shields, such as Varian's Shattering Throw, no longer also deal damage to the target's Health.

2018-06-06 Balance Update v 2.33.1

Design & Gameplay

Armor

Baseline Armor has been removed from a number of Heroes. Please see the specific changes to individual Heroes below.

Developer Comment: We have experimented with baseline Armor on some of
our Heroes for some time, but we've decided to remove this functionality for
now. The problem with it that we've found over time is that baseline Armor was
difficult to communicate visually. It therefore ended up being a largely
hidden power that didn't have any major changes on gameplay. Going forward,
we'll prefer to make Armor—and other mechanics that are effective against
Heroes and damage types—more interesting when they are tied to game mechanics.
To clarify, while we are removing baseline Armor from Heroes, we still like
Armor that is tied to a window of time or has an obvious display on the Hero
when it is active. Some examples include Greymane in Worgen form and
Cho'gall's Ogre hide.

Hero Updates

Stats

Health increased from 1,924 to 2,116.

Health Regeneration increased from 4.001 to 4.406.

Abilities

Taunt (R)

Passive Armor bonus removed

Passive maximum Health bonus increased from 25% to 30%.

2018-04-11 Balance Update v 2.31.2

Hero Updates

Stats

Health increased from 1850 to 1924.

Health Regeneration increased from 3.8554 to 4.0078.

Abilities

Taunt (R)

Bonus Health and Health Regeneration reduced from 30% to 25%.

Bug Fixes

Varian: Learning Colossus Smash no longer reduces Varian’s Health Regeneration by more than the intended 10%.

2018-03-27 Patch Notes v 2.31.0

Design & Gameplay

Shields

Armor will now mitigate bonus damage dealt to Shields by effects like Varian's Shattering Throw and Kel'Thuzad's Strip Shields.

Hero Updates

Stats

Health reduced from 2322 to 1850.

Health Regeneration reduced from 4.8375 to 3.8542.

Health scaling increased from 3% to 4% per level.

Basic Attack damage reduced from 91 to 74.

Basic Attack damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 4%.

Abilities

Heroic Strike (Trait)

Damage reduced from 140 to 125.

Damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 4% per level.

Lion’s Fang (Q)

Added functionality:

Hitting an enemy heals Varian for 35 (+4% per level), increased to 140 against Heroes.

Parry (W)

Cooldown increased 8 to 10 seconds.

Mana cost increased from 15 to 20.

Talents

Level 1

Overpower (W)

Damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%.

Level 4

Taunt (R)

Moved from level 10.

Colossus Smash (R)

Moved from level 10.

Armor reduction decreased from 25 to 20.

Twin Blades of Fury (R)

Moved from level 10.

Level 7

New Talent: Lionheart (Q)

Increases Lion’s Fang healing for damage dealt to Heroes by 50%.

Victory Rush (Passive)

Healing reduced from 400 to 350.

Cooldown reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.

Cooldown reduction granted per nearby Minion or Monster death reduced from 15 to 10 seconds.

Live by the Sword (W)

Removed.

Level 10

Shield Wall (W)

Moved from level 4.

Now also reduces Parry’s cooldown by 5 seconds, but removes 1 charge.

Warbringer (E)

Moved from level 4

Now also allows Varian to charge to allied Heroes.

Level 20

Demoralizing Shout (Active)

Damage reduction increased from 25% to 40%.

Developer Comment: We're making a simple change to Varian by moving his
Heroic Abilities to Level 4, but this will have large impact on the way he
feels during a game. By allowing Varian to get his Heroic Ability earlier, he
can fulfill the role his team needs before one team develops a significant
lead over the other. This increase in Varian’s early-game power justifies
reducing some of the overwhelming power he gains after level 10, and creates a
more even experience for Varian and his opponents throughout a game.

2018-02-21 Balance Update v 2.30.3

Bug Fixes

Movement Abilities: Certain movement-based Abilities, like Greymane’s Dark Flight or Chen’s Flying Kick, will no longer fail to move the Hero toward a target currently affected by Varian’s Taunt or Garrosh’s Warlord’s Challenge.

2017-11-14 Patch Notes v 2.29.0

Bug Fixes

Varian: Will once again leap toward his Colossus Smash target.

2017-06-13 Patch Notes v 2.26.0

Bug Fixes

Varian: The cooldown for Victory Rush will now be properly reduced when nearby Monsters are killed.

2017-05-10 Balance Update v 2.25.3

Hero Updates

Stats

Basic Attack damage increased from 87 to 91

Talents

Level 1

Overpower (W)

Reduced the damage bonus after Parrying a Basic Attack from 25 to 20%

High King’s Quest (Passive)

Increased the Basic Attack damage bonus from completing all 3 quests from 30 to 45

Level 4

Warbringer (E)

Added functionality:

Now also reduces the Mana cost of Charge by 50%

Level 7

Live by the Sword (W)

Increased the amount of parried Basic Attacks needed to reduce the cooldown of Parry from 2 to 4

2017-04-25 2.0 Launch Notes v 2.25.0

Bug Fixes

Varian: After learning Second Wind, Varian will now correctly earn bonus Healing for bonus damage dealt by Shattering Throw against a Shielded target.

2017-04-04 Patch Notes v 24.4

Design & Gameplay

Hero Radii

The radius of many heroes in the game have been adjusted to better match their actual model size.

Bug Fixes

Varian - The sound effect associated with the Iron Forge Banner will no longer play globally.

2017-03-28 Balance Update v 24.2

Hero Updates

Stats

Base Health increased from 2150 to 2322

Base Health Regeneration increased from 4.48 to 4.84

Abilities

Taunt (R)

Health bonus reduced from 40 to 30%

Talents

Level 4

Warbringer (E)

No longer increases the slow amount of Charge

Cooldown reduction increased from 6 to 8 seconds

Level 13

Juggernaut (E)

Damage reduced from 5 to 4% of a Hero’s maximum Health

Developer Comments: We think pushing the cooldown of Charge after
taking Warbringer from 6 to 4 will push it further into the hyper-mobile style
of gameplay that we want. We removed the additional slow since it didn’t add
much to actual gameplay (most people didn’t move when they were slowed). Now
Warbringer Varians will be zipping around the battlefield applying slows at a
high frequency. By increasing Varian’s base Health but lowering Taunt’s Health
bonus, Twin Blades and Colossus Smash will have about 8% more Health through
the game, while Taunt will only have a little more Health before 10.

2017-03-14 Patch Notes v 24.0

Hero Updates

Abilities

Taunt (R)

Health gain reduced from +60% to +40%

Now also grants 15 Armor

Talents

Level 16

Banner of Ironforge (Active)

Armor granted reduced from 25 to 20

Bug Fixes

Varian: The cooldown for Victory Rush will no longer be reduced when nearby enemy Structures are destroyed.

2017-02-27 Balance Update v 23.5

Hero Updates

Abilities

Charge (E)

Cooldown reduced from 14 to 12 seconds

Colossus Smash (R)

Damage bonus increased from 75 to 100%

Twin Blades of Fury (R)

Basic Attack damage penalty reduced from 25 to 20%

Talents

Level 4

Warbringer (E)

Now increases Charge's slow from 75% to 85%, instead of adding a stun

Level 13

Juggernaut (E)

Damage reduced from 6% to 5% of the target's maximum Health.

Developer Comments: The frequency and power of a ranged point click
stun was too powerful from Warbringer. While it may have been “balanced” in
terms of winrate, its potency wasn’t healthy or fun for opponents. It didn’t
offer many options for opponents that were stunned and then Taunted for over 2
seconds, greatly increasing the reliability of other abilities (like Sulfuras
Smash). By making Warbringer a massive slow instead of a stun, it allows
enemies to use abilities to defend themselves (or forces a Varian to use Taunt
early, greatly reducing the duration of his opening crowd control). We’ve
shifted more of the power of Warbringer over into the mobility aspect to
compensate (since Warbringer makes Charge a 6 second cooldown now). The other
part of these changes is providing some buffs to the Assassin focused Heroics
to bring them up to par with Taunt, so that Varian can frequently opt into any
of the Heroic choices to really fulfill the multi-class Hero fantasy that
makes him unique.

2017-02-14 Patch Notes v 23.3

Hero Updates

Talents

Level 13

Banner of Stormwind (Active)

Moved to level 16

Banner of Ironforge (Active)

Moved to level 16

Banner of Dalaran (Active)

Moved to level 16

Level 16

Juggernaut (E)

Moved to level 13

Mortal Strike (Trait)

Moved to level 13

Shattering Throw (Active)

Moved to level 13

Developer Comments: We like that Mortal Strike and Shattering Throw
are great counter options for certain team compositions, but thought they came
just a little too late to draft Varian specifically for them.

2017-01-24 Patch Notes v 23.0

Hero Updates

Talents

Level 1

Overpower (W)

Added functionality:

Can now trigger multiple times per Parry

Now also increases the damage of the next Heroic Strike by 25%

Developer Comments: These simple changes should allow Varian players
to "live the dream" and get multiple Overpower triggers more often,
particularly when combined with Live by the Sword or Twin Blades of Fury. We
want Overpower to allow Varian to gain a lot of value when used at just the
right time, and found even the best cases of the old Talent design didn't
compare to the other options on the tier. By also allowing it to increase the
damage of Heroic Strike baseline, we think it will an additional vector that
will make it an enticing option for all 3 builds..

Cooldown reduction increased from .75 to 1 second per Heroic Basic Attack

Developer Comments: Varian has had a solid release into the Nexus. We
think one of the most important things about our first multi-class character
is that all 6 "builds" are close in power level, and right now Twin Blades and
Warbringer are a little higher than the rest. These changes are designed to
nerf Warbringer's point and click stun frequency, increase the power of Shield
Wall by reducing the cooldown of Parry, greatly increase the statistical
bonuses of Taunt, and reduce some of the synergy between Second Wind and Twin
Blades of Fury that was creating so many problems for teams without a good
counter to Basic Attacks. We've done a mix of baseline buffs and Talent nerfs
to hopefully keep Varian's overall balance close to where we intended.

2016-11-15 Patch Notes v 22.0

New Hero

Few would have expected that the gladiator known only as Lo’Gosh was in truth
the missing ruler of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn. Now the High King of the
Alliance, his every action shapes the destiny of Azeroth itself.

Hero Updates

Bug Fixes

Varian: Fixed an issue which prevented the Basic Attack damage bonus offered by the High King's Quest talent from being properly modified after learning the Colossus Smash or Twin Blades of Fury talents.